‘Golden opportunity’: What 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games means for Japanese tourism

The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a ‘golden opportunity’ to turbocharge tourism between Japan and Australia, outgoing Japanese Ambassador Shingo Yamagami says.

The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a “golden opportunity” to turbo charge tourism between Japan and Australia, outgoing Japanese Ambassador Shingo Yamagami says.

The River City will also be able to learn lessons from the Tokyo Olympics, which hosted more sports than any other Games, the Ambassador declared as he praised the close sporting ties between the two nations.

More direct flights between Queensland and Japan would also be welcomed, as borders reopen and both countries work on reviving their tourism industries.

Outgoing Japanese Ambassador Shingo Yamagami. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Yamagami, who finishes his two-and-a-half year posting to Australia this weekend, said while there were already direct flights between Queensland and Japan, there was room to develop this further.

“We would like to see increased flights between Queensland and Japan, that’s for sure,” he said.

“Queensland has been a gateway for many Japanese people coming to Australia.

“When it comes to enhancing people to people ties, the sky is the limit.”

He said the Brisbane 2032 Games presented another opportunity to develop tourism between the countries.

“Queensland has a lot of attractions. People tend to focus on the Great Barrier Reef or the rainforest. There’s a lot more than that,” Mr Yamagami said.

“(Brisbane) 2032 will be a golden opportunity to increase tourism from Japan.”

Tokyo hosted the 2020 Olympics, which were highly-regarded despite being delayed a year due to the pandemic and facing Covid-19-related logistical challenges.

The ambassador said there would be opportunities for the Brisbane Olympics to benefit from the experience of Tokyo.

“There’s a lot of comparing notes we can do between Japan and Queensland, in light of the fact we hosted the Tokyo Olympics,” he said.

Artist impression of the proposed Gabba redevelopment if Brisbane won the rights to the 2032 Summer Olympic Games. Picture: Supplied

“It was the biggest Olympics in terms of the numbers of sports conducted. There are a lot of lessons we can share with our friends.

“We are two great sporting nations. We do excel in individual sports, as well as team sports. That is another commonality between Australia and Japan.

“We don’t go into niche sports for the sake of earning medals.”

Earlier this week, The Courier-Mail revealed Mr Yamagami that many Japanese companies had been spooked by changes to Queensland’s coal royalties and the federal government’s gas policies, with boardrooms becoming worried about sovereign risk for the first time.

He urged there be “no surprises” to rebuild Australia’s reputation as a reliable, stable place to invest.